OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tennessee will play in the College World Series finals for the first time in the modern era after it knocked out Florida State with a 7-2 victory on Wednesday to win its bracket.
Zander Sechrist held the Seminoles scoreless for six innings and the Volunteers struck for four early runs to become the first No. 1 national seed since 2009 to advance to the best-of-three finals.
Tennessee’s win assured an all-SEC finals for the second straight year and third time in four. The Volunteers (58-12) will play Texas A&M or Florida for the championship beginning Saturday. The Southeastern Conference will have at least one team in the finals for the 15th time in 16 years.
The Seminoles (49-17) came into the game still smarting from their 12-11 loss to Tennessee in their CWS opener. They were up 11-8 going to the bottom of the ninth inning of that game. The third-base umpire’s call on Blake Burke’s check swing with two strikes and two outs went against FSU, and Dylan Dreiling drove in the winning run in the Vols’ walk-off win.
Tennessee left no doubt about the outcome in the rematch while completing a three-game sweep through bracket play.
The Vols made it to a one-game final in its first CWS appearance in 1951, losing 3-2 to Oklahoma. In those days, there were no preliminary rounds in the NCAA Tournament; teams were selected for the CWS based on regular-season performance.
The Vols broke through under coach Tony Vitello after winning a combined one of five games in trips to Omaha in 2021 and 2023. They’ll try to become the first top seed to win the championship since Miami in 1999.
FSU coach Link Jarrett started freshman John Abraham instead of ace Jamie Arnold, who pitched Friday and would have been coming off four days’ rest. Abraham (5-2) was making his first start since April 9 and third of the season. He struggled with his control and faced only five batters before getting pulled with one out.
Tennessee was up 4-0 when Burke singled in a run in the second and he finished the scoring in the ninth when he hit his 20th home run of the season. That made the Vols the first team in Division I history to have five players with at least 20 homers. They have a nation-leading 178, nine behind the Division I record set by LSU in 1997.
Sechrist (5-1) came into the game 3-0 in his previous four starts with an 0.78 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 23 innings. His scoreless streak in the NCAA Tournament ended at 17 1/3 innings when Daniel Cantu and Alex Lodise hit back-to-back homers in the seventh.
That brought on Kirby Connell, known as “Vollie Fingers” for wearing a handlebar mustache similar to the one made famous by Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers. Connell allowed one hit before turning things over to closer Nate Snead in the ninth.
In a CWS marked by jaw-dropping defensive plays, Tennessee’s Kavares Tears made one equal to teammate Hunter Ensley’s against North Carolina on Sunday.
Tears chased down Marco Dinges’ deep drive to right center, catching the ball while crashing into the wall, his sunglasses and hat flying off.
Tears, the Vols’ regular right fielder, made his first start in center since April 23 because Ensley suffered a lower-body injury when he caught Antony Donofrio’s deep fly to center just before crashing into the wall. Ensley was the designated hitter against the Seminoles. and went 1 for 4.
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